Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno announced on Tuesday that he will explore a possible sale of the team, and the implications for Major League Baseball are already looking enormous.
Moreno purchased the Angels back in 2003 from Disney for around $180 million. And despite putting together a stunning 20-year run of mediocrity (two playoff series wins since 2003 and no playoff appearance since 2014) and dishing out terrible contracts, the team’s value has skyrocketed to $2.2 billion.
The Angels also have two generational talents on roster in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Trout is under team control until 2030 after signing a 12-year, $426.5 million deal. But Ohtani’s future with the Angels could become even murkier with new ownership as he nears his final season of team control.
The fallout from Arte Moreno selling the Angels would be monumental.
1) Opens the door to a Shohei Ohtani trade — or record-setting extension.
2) With enormous revenues, Angels still have never had a payroll over $183M. That'll change.
3) MLB's most hands-on owner is gone.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 23, 2022
Ahead of the trade deadline, Ohtani’s name was floated in trade rumors. But aside from some MLB Network speculation, no legitimate effort to trade Ohtani was reported.
If Moreno ends up following through with the sale, the entire calculus of the Angels’ plans for Ohtani could change. Is he going to sign a massive extension to stay or will this green light an Ohtani trade? As expected, MLB fans were already dreaming of Ohtani leaving the Angels.
This was how Twitter reacted
first look at Ohtani in his new threads. https://t.co/eGkWa6sl2N pic.twitter.com/6Xl85Mi91K
— Portland Pickles (@picklesbaseball) August 23, 2022
It's back on https://t.co/y85ln6MQEU pic.twitter.com/r4fQGF1ZUF
— #1 Jays Fan (@BigJays) August 23, 2022
Inevitable https://t.co/DPBhMXfhHi pic.twitter.com/tyIOO7UnzM
— Jose (@jureno_) August 23, 2022
Shohei Ohtani, you’re a White Sox! https://t.co/llzYySjYzt pic.twitter.com/N3IGdD1WaI
— ⚫️𝗪𝗦𝗫𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗧⚪️ (@wsxmatt) August 23, 2022
Ohtani is finally gonna be a Mariner, crazy https://t.co/36SZUSVplE pic.twitter.com/sYn1qXJ7XY
— ً (@WeTxppedIn) August 23, 2022
ohtani is a blue jay https://t.co/zV3wBUeJfH
— AK⁶𓅓 (trade kikuchi) (@scottiebetta) August 23, 2022
— Side Retired Pod (@SideRetiredPod) August 23, 2022
— Eppler to Prison (@_klacks) August 23, 2022
Time for Shohei to join his team of destiny https://t.co/1ECkAOWAlw pic.twitter.com/MmWjP5df2B
— Cailean (@CaileanGrey) August 23, 2022
This will be something to keep an eye on in the coming months.
